The present invention relates to a data utilizing system.
In the great majority of cases, data (e.g., transaction data of a record of a day-to-day transaction) based on the premise of being utilized by a computer have hitherto been accumulated as table format data (table data) in which the data (record) having a fixed structure corresponding to one event are recorded by the number of events. Then, the record consists of plural pieces of data expressing one event that are stored in a state of being arranged in a certain number of sectioned record areas (fields).
On the occasion of utilizing the data accumulated as the table data, there are executed a process of categorizing a plurality of records according to predetermined categorization rules on the basis of stored values in specified fields in the plurality of records, a tabulating process per aggregation (category) of the categorized records, and a process of obtaining a tendency and a difference between categories.
Incidentally, there must be a case in which the data to be utilized have been accumulated over a long period of time, and a variety of generations ranging from an old record up to a new record might exist in the table data. In the case of categorizing such a plurality of records in the data table, if the categorization rules are uniformized throughout all the generations, it happened that the data accumulated as the table data could not be categorized and tabulated as a user intended.
For example, it might happen that an electronic apparatus such as a personal computer, etc. was classified as a high grade product at the beginning of sales in the market, then several month later classified as a intermediate product, and another several months later classified as a wide-spread product. If the data table relative to such an electronic apparatus is categorized without considering the generations of the respective records, there must be a case wherein the record that should be categorized as a wide-spread product is to be categorized as a high grade product, or the record that should be categorized as an intermediate product is to be categorized as a high grade product, and the categorized result thus becomes different from the intention of the user.
As described above, if the utilization target data accumulated in the data table has some elements enough to differentiate the category with a passage of time, it is required that the records be categorized and tabulated per generation of the data.